


Curiosity

by theoriginalcheeesecake



Category: Doctor Who (2005), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Crack, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:26:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25263073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoriginalcheeesecake/pseuds/theoriginalcheeesecake
Summary: In the year 2132, Caroline Forbes messes with the time vortex. It messes back by flinging her 285 years into the past.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 132





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is total crack! Written for the TVD+DW lovers, although there's no Doctor in this first chapter.

“Jesus-fucking-ballbag-Christ!”

Caroline Forbes cursed to the high heavens as she staggered to and fro, her head like it had gone through a salad-spinner, and her body a washing machine.

She stumbled a few more steps forward before losing her battle with gravity, face planting into the hard ground beneath her. She was thoroughly disorientated and couldn’t for the life of her work out why.

Instead of trying to stand up immediately, she just stayed with her face smooshed into the ground, taking a few more minutes to regain her bearings.

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there for, but as she did, she began to become aware of her surroundings.

It seemed that she was facedown in some sort of forest – if the dappled light and bird noises were anything to go by. She could feel her goggles squishing into her face, and she knew her hair was tied up in a high bun. And, for some reason, the air felt inexplicably _different_ from what she was used to.

Though none of this seemed to fit in her still dizzy head, because the last thing she remembered she was figuratively banging her head against the wall of her lab, after getting the practical dimensional equation wrong _again._

_Hmm,_ she thought. _Lab. That explains the goggles and the hair._

But her addled brain couldn’t figure out why was she now in the middle of a forest, if she had just been in her lab?

And then it clicked, and Caroline leapt to her feet.

She’d been in the _lab_.

Working on her _practical dimensional equation._

_And now she was no longer in the lab!_

“Eureka!” she called loudly to the trees, thinking it appropriate to paraphrase Archimedes in that moment.

Though, in her excitement, she didn’t notice the man who had been looming quietly over her. 

Caroline threw her arms out, and spun herself wildly around, laughing happily.

She did it.

_She_ did it!

“Well, beat that you sexist, pompous jerk!” Caroline cried, to no one in particular, as she pictured the man who oversaw her physics program. “That will teach you to snip and snipe at – _and_ about – the _only_ female in your program. I can’t believe it. I _time_ travelled. _I travelled in time!_ And freaking Maxfield had the nerve to call me the ‘token female of the program’ only the other day. That will learn him!”

Caroline continued to laugh and prance happily, the reality of her situation not quite hitting home.

She started moving her hips, dancing to an imaginary song playing in her head, and began to move backwards until –

“Oh my god!”

Caroline nearly jumped six feet in the air, as she felt her grinding hips hit not a tree, like she had been expecting, but the very distinct outline of a male groin.

She spun around and was shocked by the sight that met her eyes.

Standing, watching her with a sceptical eyebrow raised, was a man.

He was dressed in traditional mid 1800s garb, and was possibly the most wickedly attractive man Caroline had ever laid eyes on.

His hair was a sandy blonde, and his lips were a perfect raspberry colour. His eyes, while looking at her with suspicion and menace, still held a slight puppy dog kind of look in them – which, in Caroline’s humble opinion, rendered the intimidating look completely eyes useless.

Because how could someone who looked so cute be scary?

Didn’t mean she wasn’t reduced to about three words in the English language though. The intensity of his gaze was making her weaker at the knees than her trip through time and space had.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, love,” he growled at her, his voice full of the same intimidation his eyes were. “But what on earth are you doing on _my_ property? Do you not know who I am?”

Just then, the scientist in her reared its head, and her curiosity got the better of her. Handsome or not, this guy was _British –_ according to the accent – and she had just _time travelled –_ no amount of good looks could distract from that.

“Fascinating,” Caroline said, striding confidently to him to inspect every part of him. She lifted up his arm and looked at the stitching of his shirt. Then rotated him 180 degrees, to check for any tags on his shirt.

She cupped his face with her hands and pulled it down so they were nose-to-nose. She squinted into his eyes, before using one hand to pull open his mouth so she could examine his teeth.

“Fascinating,” she repeated. “It would seem I managed to travel more than just a few hours. Tell me, where am I? Or should I say, when am I?”

Klaus Mikaelson stared at her, dumbfounded.

He had just been walking back through his property after a quick feed, when he’d heard a loud crack, something akin to a thunderstorm, before a string of curse words, then the unmistakeable _thunk_ of a body falling to the ground.

He changed his course to investigate, assuming perhaps the local witches responsible. But when he arrived on the scene, he found a person – a _woman –_ face down in the leaves, dressed in the strangest attire.

First of all she had _pants_ on, and they were made from a strange, blue, fibrous material that he’d never seen before. And the shirt – if you could call it that – she wore was a thin and short sleeved, leaving him to wonder whether she left her house in her underwear.

She had unruly blonde hair, which was bunched in a messy bun on the top of her head.

Klaus watched as she lay still so long, and he begun to think she might be dying – her heart was slowing down at an alarming rate.

But, as he was about to lean down and take his fill of her, she sprung up, proceeding to dance happily, and talk to herself about _time travel._ What was more, sheand hadn’t even noticed him, until her undulating hips had connected his stationary ones.

Klaus would be lying if he said his interest had not piqued at this turn of events, the blue, strange-materialled pants performing some sort of magic on him.

But, she was trespassing on _his_ property. And he was _the original hybrid._ And she was cursing. _And_ she was wildly underdressed to be on display.

So, of course, Klaus had to take a harsh line with her.

But she had shocked him even further when she’d disregarded his words, and his tone, and began examining every inch of him.

Not in 800 years had someone _not_ been scared of his intimidating look. It usually sent bigger, and stronger men scurrying away faster than he could threaten them.

“So, what year is it?” she asked, still staring at him expectantly, and he realised he was still gaping at her.

“Are you intoxicated, love?” he asked.

“Dude! No? Why would you ask that?” she said, incredulously. “Can you just answer my question?”

“I believe I asked you a question first, sweetheart,” he said challengingly.

“Well, we seem to be at an impasse then, aren’t we?” she said, raising her eyebrows, as if accepting his challenge.

“Touché.”

He wasn’t sure why he was indulging her – he was _Niklaus Mikaelson_ , and people did _his_ bidding – but there was something so inherently attractive about the fire in her eyes, and he couldn’t shake the feeling of her soft hands gripping his face.

“Why don’t you come back to my house and we can talk,” he asked, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

“Uh-uh,” she said patronisingly, looking down her nose at him. “Stranger danger is a thing. I’ve seen movies.”

He frowned at her, at a loss for the words she was saying.

“Your vernacular must be very specific to your family, love.”

“Right!” she said, some of the excitement returning to her. “Time travel. You wouldn’t know what movies are! And…”

“You keep saying ‘time travel’, are you a witch?” he interrupted, but she didn’t seem to notice. 

“… But no-sir-ee, I will not go home with some strange guy I met in a _forest…_ ”

“You certainly know how to talk, love.”

“… After I _finally_ worked out how to balance that damn equation…”

He couldn’t help the smile that was starting to spread across his face at her incessant talking.

He did _not_ find things cute. Ever.

But this girl was definitely deserved the title.

“… I can’t believe it. Ten years and I finally figured it out and… what?”

She was finally silent and looking at him inquisitively, big, blue, beautiful eyes staring into his very soul.

“You’re finished?” he asked, the small smile still playing on his lips.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t?”

“Well, come back to the house with me and I’ll tell you.”

“Did you not hear me when I said I am _not_ going anywhere with a random stranger I met in like 1850!”

“1847.”

“What?”

“It’s 1847, love. How do you not know what year it is?”

“1847,” she repeated, something clicking within her.




_1847._

Suddenly, her emotional mind caught up with the logical one, and the reality of her situation dawned on her.

She was stuck in 1847, with no passage, or idea on how to get home. Her lab wouldn’t exist in 1847. It wouldn’t exist for another 285 years! Science hadn’t even progressed enough to allow for motor vehicles, let alone to accommodate for the complex physics and rocket science that went into time travel.

The ringing and dizziness she had forgotten about in her excitement suddenly returned in full force, and she fainted.

But before her mind shut down completely, and before she could face plant in to the ground for the second time in as many minutes, she felt a pair of strong, but tender, arms wrap around her, catching her before she fell.

Then the world went black.

/

Klaus found himself achingly anxious for the blonde creature currently residing in his bed.

She had been passed out in there for the better part of two days, and Klaus found he could hardly concentrate on anything for longer than thirty minutes, before he felt the need to check on her again.

He tried everything from vampire blood to slamming the door loudly as he left his room to rouse her, but nothing succeeded.

He didn’t know what it was about her, but he was completely enthralled by her – even if they had engaged in barely one conversation.

“Umm, sir?” one of his housemaids squeaked, as he sat in his drawing room, well, drawing.

“What is it?” Klaus asked, irritably.

“Your brother has arrived; shall I send him in?”

Klaus sighed, but agreed, instructing her to send in a pot of tea, for them to share.

“Good morning, brother.”

“Elijah. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

“Can one drop in on his brother merely to check on him?”

“No,” Klaus replied, flatly.

Elijah sighed, and adjusted his jacket, a bored expression on his face.

“In that case, Niklaus, I’m here to formally invite you to the masquerade ball our sister is throwing this coming Saturday,” he said, dismissively. “And cordially remind you that you received your _first_ invitation two months ago, and have not responded.”

“And I formally _and_ cordially do not accept your invitation,” Klaus responded, snarkily. He did _not_ have time for rubbish human customs that Rebekah seemed so entranced by, no matter how much Elijah insisted he make a good impression on the locals.

“It is imperative you attend, Niklaus. How would it reflect on our family if you didn’t attend?”

“I don’t much care how it looks, brother,” Klaus replied nonchalantly, turning back to the sketch he was doing.

Klaus had already secured his leadership over the New Orleans community, he would attend whichever events _he_ deemed necessary. No more, no less.

“We need the community to see us on a united front. These are troubling times.”

Klaus was about to respond with another biting remark, when a shout and sounds of struggling could be heard from the direction of Klaus’ bedroom.

Elijah completely forgotten, Klaus sprang into action, bolting toward the noise.

When he arrived, the girl was battling with his bed sheets, extremely disorientated by her surroundings.

Klaus raced to her side, and taking a hand in his, stroking her hair with the other and hushing her.

“There, there, sweetheart,” he murmured. “It’s okay, you’re safe.”

After a few moments, and her thrashing slowed, and her breathing evened.

She managed to sit up, and beginning taking in her surroundings.

She was in a spacious, tastefully decorated room with dark; hardwood furniture, and different paintings adorning the cream coloured walls. A series of floor to ceiling windows let in rays of natural light, and Caroline guessed it must be mid morning.

She turned back to the man, whose hand was still tangled with her own, and she noticed that he wasn’t accusatory and intimidating today, only concerned.

“I’m stuck in 1847, aren’t I?” Caroline said, her voice weak and a little bit trembling. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Klaus shook his head and was about to answer when –

“Ah, Niklaus. I see you have a house guest; I can hardly believe my eyes.”

Elijah was eyeing his brother with a sly smirk on his face, noting the closeness between Klaus and the girl, before turning his curious eyes to her.

“Elijah Mikaelson,” he said, picking up the hand Klaus wasn’t holding, and kissing it politely. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Caroline scrunched up her face and gave him a rather unflattering, incredulous expression, snatching her hand away; a gesture which earned her an impressed smirk from Klaus.

“Yes, well,” Elijah said, recovering. “This settles it. Niklaus you _will_ attend the ball this Saturday and bring your… lady friend… to accompany you.”

With that Elijah was off, leaving an exasperated Klaus and a still dubious Caroline in his wake.

“Maid,” Klaus called to the timid woman. “You and the rest of the staff may have the day off.”

The maid scuttled off to tell her colleagues the good news, and Klaus shut his bedroom door behind her.

“Now,” he said to the blonde in his bed. “We have yet to be properly acquainted. Niklaus Mikaelson.”

Klaus held out his hand for her to shake, which she took dazedly and shook lightly. 

“Niklaus?” she repeated. “That’s not very 19th century? Try 9th.”

“My mother had a fondness for old names,” Klaus chuckled at a joke she was not in on. “Please, call me Klaus.”

“Klaus,” she said, testing out the word. “Klaus.”

It just didn’t feel right in her mouth. The strange feeling of the vowels rattling around her soft palate made her frown.

“Can I call you ‘Nik’ instead?” she asked.

Klaus titled his head to the side inquisitively.

“If you like,” he said. “But only if you’re kind enough to tell me your name. I can hardly refer to you as ‘the mysterious blonde’ forever.”

She gave him a look, that wasn’t dissimilar to the one she shot Elijah, but she replied nonetheless.

“Caroline,” she said. “Caroline Forbes.”

“Well Caroline, Caroline Forbes,” Klaus said playfully, as he sat himself on the bed next to her. “Why don’t you explain to me how you came to be in my forest the other morning.”

“The other morning?”

“Yes, you’ve been out cold for over two days. Now, do you mind answering my questions?” 

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, struggling to find the words to describe to this 19th century aristocrat that she was actually from the year 2132 and she ended up in his forest because she finally managed to succeed in opening the time vortex and travel 300 years into the past…

“Can you answer a couple of my questions first?” she asked, tentatively. “I always find it easier to answer questions when I have all the facts.”

He shot her a calculating look, but his interest got the better of him, and he nodded.

“Firstly, we’re in 1847 correct?” When he nodded again, she asked, “So, where are we?”

“New Orleans, Louisiana,” he answered promptly, knowing the more he cooperated with her, the more she would reveal about herself.

“But you’re English?”

“People from England can live in the States, sweetheart,” he chuckled.

“Of course,” she muttered absently, before adding to herself. “That would explain it.”

“Explain what, love?” he prompted.

“Do you have a map of this area, and a pencil and paper?”

Bemused but interested, Klaus complied, fetching the document and utensils she was after. He watched her do some quick, but precise, measurements, and scribble down different numbers and equations, all the while murmuring to herself.

“This is your property right?” she asked him, pointing to the map. “And this is _exactly_ where you found me?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” Klaus replied, tilting his head to one side as he watched her.

He’d never, in his 800 years, seen anything more fascinating than seeing this enigmatic woman work. A slight frown creased her perfect forehead, and Klaus’ chest ached at how adorable it was.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing, love?”

Caroline exhaled, defeated, and placed the papers on the bed beside her, and tucked the pencil behind her ear, before slumping back onto the pillows.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she sighed.

“You’d be surprised what I believe,” he replied, mysteriously.

For the first time since she woke up, she looked – really looked – at her the man sitting next to her.

He was just as painfully attractive, but there was something about him. It was inexplicable; he radiated a power, quite unlike anything she’d felt before.

“I’m from the year 2132…” she began, starting out small, testing the waters.

Klaus raised his eyebrows – perhaps she was a witch who was messing with time travel spells? Being from the future would likely explain her strange attire when she arrived.

“I’m a physicist….”

Women’s liberation must come a long way in the future.

“And I think I became the first human to successfully open the time vortex, and travel through time…”

Well that certainly wasn’t what he expected hearing, it hadn’t been that.

“You see,” she began, seemingly getting lost in telling the story. “For the last four years, I’ve been part of this research and development program with NASA, which is based at a university which will be – in the future – about ten kilometres from here. I did theoretical time travel as my thesis for my PhD. So, there’s this equation that I’ve been working on for close to ten years. The equation is what I was supposed to feed into the machine that would do the actual vortex opening – a vortex manipulator, if you will – but I’ve never been able to get it to balance. Until the other day, I guess.”

He was equal parts skeptical and intrigued by her story. The wild gestures and the pure excitement in her voice very endearing.

“Though, I must have mucked it up somewhere along the way. Because what I was trying to do was move 285 kilometres due south through space, and 10 hours into the past through time. And instead, it seems that I put the two figures around the wrong way… and ended up 285 years in the past… and 10 kilometres south from my original position.”

“I see,” Klaus said, as he processed what she had said.

“You believe me?” Caroline asked, eyebrow quirked.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, it’s not something you’d think a regular guy from the 1800s would accept so fast.”

“I’m not a regular _guy_ , sweetheart,” he said, emphasising the word guy – a term he’d yet to come across.

“Oh my gosh! Are you from the future, too?” she asked, hopefully. Maybe if there were two of them they’d be able to find out how to get back together.

“Unfortunately, no.”

Caroline’s shoulders slumped again, and she buried her face in her hands.

“I’m never going to get home, am I?”

Klaus heard the defeat in her voice, and, for the first time in many many years, he felt his undead heart clench a little with the unexplainable desire to try and comfort her.

What was she doing to him?

“I’m an 800-year-old vampire-werewolf hybrid from the original family of vampires,” Klaus said, casually.

Caroline rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly, struggling up from the bed moving away from him, to look out the window.

“Yeah, and here I was thinking you actually took me seriously,” she said, scornfully.

Klaus jumped off the bed and followed behind her, “Sweetheart, you don’t…”

“Just stop,” she spat. “Do you know how hard it was? Being a female physicist? Even in 2132, the sexism is unbelievable. It’s like people _still_ believe because women have the ability to have children, that’s their sole purpose in life! It’s so banal! It’s so… so… urgh!”

Klaus watched her get progressively angrier, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty for all the times he’d treated women as merely a means to an end.

“But I lost my dad when I was 17 and then my mom when I was 19, and the only thing that got me through was the work, Nik. Here I was thinking, for once, someone wouldn’t treat me like I was beneath them. Yet, here you are making fun of everything I’ve achieved in my life by telling me you’re a _vampire_? Do not…”

But the end of her speech was cut off as Klaus grabbed the sides of her face forcefully so her eyes met his. He gave her a moment to stop struggling before allowing his face to change.

His fangs dropped and his eyes turned to gold, black veins slithering under his skin to meet them.

Caroline’s eyes went wide, but Klaus was surprised – and a little pleased – to notice there was no fear swimming in their depths. Only that seemingly unquenchable curiosity he’d seen many times since she arrived.

“You’re not lying?” she whispered.

Klaus schooled his features back to their human-like appearance, and smirked at her.

“Not lying.”

“Well that makes my little outburst embarrassing, doesn’t it,” she said, her cheeks reddening. “How is that possible?”

“How is _time travel_ possible, love?”

“Through physics and manipulation of the time vortex,” she stated, matter-of-factly.

“Then, for me, magic,” Klaus replied, as though _magic_ was just as normal to him as complex science theories were to her.

“Magic,” Caroline looked utterly confused, but also full of wonderment. “Magic. It’s true, it’s all true.”

“What’s true?”

Caroline sunk down onto the chaise that was by the window, on the way picking up Klaus’ hand, as though needing some grip on her reality.

“I grew up in a small town, and my mom always told stories about how my town had its roots in supernatural folklore. She said that vampires and werewolves and witches had been living there for over a thousand years. I always just brushed it off as her being crazy…”

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Klaus revelling in the feeling of her hand in his, and Caroline’s mind reeling from this latest development.

“So you’re really a vampire?” she asked weakly.

“A hybrid, actually. Half vampire, half werewolf.”

“I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“I’m the only one.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Caroline said. “Is that man I met, your brother, is he a hybrid too?”

“Just a vampire,” Klaus responded, and elaborated as he saw her confused face. “He’s my half brother. I’m the result of an affair my mother had.”

“So, do you, like, turn people?” she asked, curiously. “Turn them like you?”

“We can turn them to vampires, but I can’t turn werewolves into hybrids without the blood of a specific bloodline.”

“Right…”

Caroline was having a hard time wrapping her head around everything at the moment.

First, she had _time travelled…_ Like, successfully opened a hole in the time vortex. Something that had _never_ been achieved before. Then there was the whole she was stuck in the mid 1800s thing. Now the first man she met in the 1800s is telling her he’s a vampire – but not just any vampire – and _original_ vampire – and not just an _original vampire –_ but the one, and only, original _hybrid._

And then there was the whole they were holding hands thing, and she didn’t know _what_ to make of that… because she was really enjoying it and she hadn’t enjoyed a man’s company in many months. She’d hardly thought about romantically involving herself with a man in months… she was too focussed on her work.

Then there was the whole _vampire_ thing? Didn’t vampires kill humans for fun?

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked. There was still no fear in her voice, but Klaus could see a flicker of concern behind her eyes.

“Do you really think that low of me?”

Caroline considered this.

She was an incredibly intelligent woman, and she reasoned that, had he wanted to kill her, he would have by now. And, had he wanted to feed – or whatever vampires did – he would have done that too. He wouldn’t have taken care of her the day she was passed out, he wouldn’t have let her ramble, he wouldn’t have let her sit in his room and hold his hand while she came to terms with her situation.

“No,” she said, finally, and he smiled at her.

The smile was so genuine that Caroline couldn’t help smile back.

She could see hope in his eyes, and it pulled at her heartstrings. What must his life have been like to make him so hopeful when someone believed in him?

They continued to stare into each others’ eyes for a few more moments, before another thought that had been plaguing her resurfaced. 

“How am I going to get home?”

Klaus felt his heart sink a little. Of course she would want to find a way to get back to her home. It was only natural. But in the short time he’d known her, he felt a connection and affection for her, unlike anything he’d felt in centuries.

And in the sparse moments they’d shared together, he could already feel himself begin to care deeply for her. Her beauty made it easy to want to have her, but her mind and her curiosity made him want to fall for her. And that feeling terrified him beyond belief, but, at the same time, filled him with exhilaration.

“I’m not sure how to get you home, sweetheart,” Klaus murmured, stroking his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand. “But I can take you to a witch associate of ours. Maybe she can help?”

“No!” Caroline cried, startling herself as much as she startled Klaus.

“No,” she repeated, more calmly. “I don’t trust magic as a science… I’d rather put my life in the hands of physics, than something I don’t understand.”

“Fair enough,” Klaus said, secretly glad, because it meant she might stay longer.

“Still doesn’t solve my problem… But I’m not going to be struck with inspiration by sitting around all day, am I?” she said, brightly.

“In that case, Miss Forbes,” Klaus smiled. “May I escort you around the city for the remainder of the day? Perhaps you’ll find the ideas you need from a day in the sun.”

Caroline entertained the idea.

She hadn’t had much of a break from the lab in nearly a year, and she’d already been away for over two days, what was a few more? Especially if she was going back to tell her boss Doctor Maxfield _she’d_ cracked the vortex manipulation equation?

“That sounds lovely,” she beamed, squeezing his hand a little.

“Though, we might have to find you a new dress,” he said, nonchalantly tracing a finger along her collarbone.

Caroline looked down to find she was in nothing more than a very white, very thin, _very see-through_ , nightgown.

“Oh my god!” she shrieked. “You let me have this conversation in my underwear?!”

Klaus chuckled, “I see female vanity doesn’t change much in the future?”

“No one likes to have serious conversations in the underclothes, Nik,” she stated, petulantly. “It’s unattractive and it’s… it’s… inappropriate!”

“I would like to disagree with both those statements,” Klaus said, trailing his eyes slowly from the tips of her toes, back to her eyes – causing a shiver to run through her body. “You are very attractive.”

Caroline’s breath grew a little more ragged as she looked deep into his eyes.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she murmured back, taking her bottom lip between her teeth and teasing it slightly.

Klaus’ eyes flicked to her lips, back to her eyes, then to her lips again, desperately wanting to taste them for himself.

But then, the bedroom door banged open, and in stormed a furious looking blonde.

“So it’s true then?” the newcomer screeched, looking angrily between Caroline and Klaus. “You are screwing some common wench?”

Caroline recoiled from Klaus as fast as she could, scrambling to the other side of the room.

He was married.

Of course he was!

And she’d nearly kissed him!

_Urgh_.

“Trust Elijah to shoot his mouth off,” Klaus growled.

“Oh, don’t you turn this on _him_!” the woman screamed. “You _killed_ the man I was seeing not three days ago, do you remember that, Nik?”

“Bekah,” Klaus warned, his nostrils flaring, his eyes growing murderous.

Klaus didn’t want Caroline to hear about his… extra curricular activities. She was supposed to like him, for _him_ ,and not worry about the fact he was a homicidal psychopath!

“Don’t ‘ _Bekah_ ’ me, Nik! I should snap her neck right here, give you a taste of your own medicine.”

And with that, the angry blonde whooshed at superhuman speed to the other blonde watching from the corner.

Caroline felt the other girl’s hands grip the sides of her face, similar to the way Klaus had earlier, and begin to twist.

“Rebekah, don’t!” Klaus cried. “Please.”

Almost as suddenly as Rebekah grabbed Caroline, she dropped her, as though she had been burned.

Not in at least a hundred years had Klaus said ‘please’ about anything, let alone about sparing a _human_ life. It intrigued Rebekah beyond belief.

“Huh,” she said, raising a perfect eyebrow sceptically, staring at Klaus with knowing eyes. “You really do still have a heart.”

With that, she turned her penetrating stare to Caroline, who, for all her curious courage, cowered away.

“Rebekah Mikaelson,” she said, down her nose. “I’m not sure what my brother sees in you, but it’s been a while since anything took his fancy. So, you must come to the ball on Saturday.”

And, with those words, she turned and flounced from the room, only stopping to say, “But _please_ wear something a little more impressive than… _that._ ”

Then she was gone, leaving a stunned Caroline and a furious Klaus in her wake.

The two stood in silence for a few long moments, just staring at each other.

When Klaus moved tentatively towards her, it hurt him to see her shrink away.

“You kill people?” Caroline asked, stoically, after a few more minutes of silence. She wasn’t sure why it hadn’t occurred to her before that he killed people. She knew the folklore of vampires and what they were like.

But there was something about him that just made her trust him. She could see all the darkness in his eyes, and – especially now – she _knew_ he did bad things, but at the same time she found herself _wanting_ to trust him.

He filled her with a strange tingling feeling, which had nothing to do with the new century, or the crazy few days she’d been having.

He made her feel… wanted.

“I am an 800-year-old vampire, sweetheart,” Klaus said, a little too casually. “It’s in my nature.” 

“I see,” Caroline said, before pausing for a moment. “How can you walk in the sunlight? Isn’t being banished to the shadows supposed to be a thing?”

“Are you not repulsed by my killing people?”

Klaus was, once again, completely intrigued by this girl, and her very unpredictable reactions to things.

“It scares me a little, and I don’t like it… but…” Caroline mused, unsure of exactly to articulate how she was feeling. “But… but, until today, I didn’t think vampires were possible. And I didn’t ever think _I’d_ be the one to achieve time travel. Life is so much more complex than I could have imagined, and I’m only 28! So, after _800 years_ of life…”

She paused again, searching for the concise way of putting her argument.

“I just don’t think life’s as black and white as my scientist brain wants it to be. I don’t condone killing, and I certainly don’t like it. But I can accept that it’s part of who you are.”

Clearing his throat, Klaus was somewhat overcome by her acceptance of him.

“Well then,” he said gruffly, changing the subject. “How about we get you that dress? I can tell you being a vampire, and you can tell me about the future.”

He tentatively held out his hand for her. Caroline looked at it for a fraction of a second, before interlacing her fingers in his and allowing him to pull her to her feet.

Fighting the shudders that ran through her body at their contact, Caroline smiled at him.

“I’d like that.”

/

The rest of the day, Klaus led Caroline around 1847 New Orleans.

Caroline couldn’t believe how much the city had changed, yet how much remained the same as well.

The streets were dusty, and the buildings – which, in Caroline’s time, were centuries old – stood tall and freshly built. The colours and designs of the dresses the women wore lit up the streets with far more vigour than any of the attire from her time.

Klaus filled Caroline in on the rest of the Vampire lore, and Caroline talked Klaus’ ear off about all the historical events he’d been involved in. Klaus was all too happy to indulge her; anything to keep the perfect smile on her face.

In the early afternoon, Klaus led Caroline from the city, toward the bayou, where they sat upon giant rocks that seemed to be warming from the inside. As they say there, basking in warmth of the sunlight, Klaus felt Caroline’s small hand grip his own. He looked over at her questioningly, and she gazed back, giving him a wry smile. He squeezed her hand ever so slightly, and smiled wonderfully at her, a gesture she returned gladly.

As the sun began to set, the two made their way back to Klaus’ property, still hand in hand, both glowing.

“Let me make you dinner,” Klaus suggested.

He was doing his best to sound confident but, the truth was, he was a little nervous.

He just had the most perfect day he’d had in decades – centuries even – with the most enthralling woman he’d met in just as long, and now he just wanted to impress her.

She was kind and bright, and all the things he wasn’t anymore. But she made him feel like he wasn’t the terrible creature he was. She made him feel like he was worth a damn.

“That sounds lovely,” she smiled softly in return.

Over the next hour, the two of them occupied their time much like they had the rest of the day. They laughed, chatted, and smiled, just enjoying each other’s company.

“I usually pretend I can’t cook for myself,” Klaus told her, conspiratorially. “But, you pick up a few things when you live as long as I have.”

He winked as he placed the plate down in front of her and Caroline blushed, butterflies swirling around her stomach.

The two tucked in, and Caroline revelled in every morsel, having never tasted anything as hearty or robust in flavour as the meal in front of her.

“Well, that was incredible,” she praised, as she finished her last mouthful. “In my time, the food is made mostly from genetically modified crops, because our predecessors didn’t look after the planet too well. So nothing tastes this… real.”

“I’m glad you like it,” he said, flashing her another of his winning smiles. 

They stayed sharing furtive looks for a few moments before Caroline shook her herself from her trance and said, “Do you mind if I have a shower, and maybe borrow some pyjamas? I’m so dusty, and I probably smell horrible.”

Caroline picked up her spoon and caught her reflection in the back of it and nearly gagged at seeing the windswept wildness of her hair. “And you let me walk around in public looking like this? I look like a hag, or a troll, or worse _my grandmother!_ ”

Klaus bit down on his lip hard, trying not to let the chuckle escape, but it was no use, and soon his shoulders were shaking and the laughter bubbled over his lips.

“It’s not funny,” she said, deadly serious.

“I know, I know,” he said trying to morph his face back to deadpan, but failing dismally.

“Then stop laughing!” she cried, indignantly, though there was the tiniest of smiles beginning to grace her own face.

“Sweetheart, you look stunning,” Klaus said, earnestly, looking deep into her eyes. “Despite what you’ve got going on with your hair.”

Caroline swatted at him, though was secretly melting on the inside.

“Though I cannot fill your request for a ‘shower’,” he said, apologetically. “Only a bath.”

“A bath?” Caroline said, anxiously. “You don’t have like heated, running water?”

“Afraid not, and unfortunately, I sent the maids away for the day,” Klaus said casually, though his mind was swimming with the possibilities of Caroline in the bath. “But, I can help draw you a bath if you wish to have one?”

Caroline chewed her lip apprehensively, contemplating the implications of his offer.

“Yes, please.”

“It’ll take a few minutes,” he said. “But if you like, you may sit in the drawing room while I heat the water.”

Klaus gestured to the adjoining room, before flashing away.

Caroline picked her way around the room, fascinated. It was certainly something to see how the other half lived. Even in this time period.

Caroline had grown up in a modest household, and, even after she started being well paid for her work, she never really upgraded. Mainly because she spent most of her time at the lab, but partly because she felt donating to charities was a better use of her money.

“You ready?” Caroline heard Klaus asked from the doorway, a few of minutes later.

Caroline nodded neatly, and followed Klaus from the drawing room to a bathroom on the second storey. It was tiled and woody, and there was a beautiful, steaming, claw foot tub in the centre, large enough to comfortably fit at least three people.

“This is like something out of an Austen novel,” Caroline said, absentmindedly running a hand along the side of the bath, gazing into its depths.

“I’ll fetch you some nightwear,” Klaus said, uncomfortably aware she would be naked soon.

“Thank you,” Caroline smiled.

As he left, Caroline turned her attention to undressing.

The dress Klaus managed to procure for her that morning was less of a dress, and more of a ten-piece ensemble, complete with thick stockings, petticoat, over skirt, shirt, corset-type-thing for over the shirt, tight jacket, gloves, hat, high heeled boots, and a cape.

There was no doubt it was absolutely stunning, but Caroline had struggled for at least thirty minutes that morning to get into it, and that had been with help, because, one of the maids had stayed at the house finishing up a task before going home for the day.

But then, in the bathroom trying to get out of it, was a mammoth task; one she had no idea how to achieve.

She managed to get the stocking, boots, hat, cape, and gloves off easily enough, and the jacket came off with a little bit of fiddling. But the corset had laces on the back, that Caroline could not reach, or hope to loosen. As for the shirt underneath it, had buttons the whole way down her _back._ The over skirt was held up, not by a zip, but a series of oddly placed buttons and hooks that Caroline could not for the life of her understand.

“I’ll just leave these on the doorstep, sweetheart,” Klaus called through the door, when he returned with her nightclothes a few minutes later.

“No, wait!”

Caroline attempted to scramble to the door, but got tangled in the clothes on the floor, and her too big, unfamiliar skirt and fell flat on her face with a loud thwack.

Klaus heard the noise and immediately burst through the doors, forgetting she might need some privacy.

Had the sound she made hitting the bathroom tiles not been so violent, Klaus would have found the sight before him comical.

“Oh, Caroline, are you okay?” he asked, gently, kneeling down next to her and stroking the blonde locks off her face.

“I think the 1840s is trying to kill me,” she groaned.

Klaus smiled, relieved, and took her hands to help her to her feet glad she wasn’t injured. 

“That’s not a problem, as long as the 1840s doesn’t succeed.”

Caroline smiled back, but was slightly embarrassed by what had just happened.

“So, I’ll leave you to it,” Klaus said, after a few moments of awkward silence.

“No, wait,” Caroline repeated, tugging at his hand. “We don’t dress like this in the future, and we certainly don’t have this many buttons on, like, anything. And corsets only exist to seduce our lovers, so…”

But she stopped, not quite sure how she could finish her sentence without it sounding suggestive. And she wasn’t quite sure whether she wanted it to notsound suggestive, seeing as there was definitely some kind of fire within her.

“Umm… so…” she stammered. “I need help undressing… I mean… I need you to help me get undressed… I mean… oh, you know what I mean.”

“Now, Caroline, you know if you wanted me to join you for a bath, all you had to do was ask,” Klaus joked, though immediately schooled his features into a more empathetic expression after she glowered at him. “I can help you with your apparel. I’ve lived through many changes in fashion, but it does always take some getting used to.”

“Thank you,” Caroline smiled.

She turned around for him, and he immediately danced his deft fingers down her back, expertly loosening the corset laces. As the it fell away, Caroline took a deep breath in, hardly realising how restrictive it was until then. Next, Klaus skilfully unhooked and unbuttoned the skirt, allowing Caroline to step out of it, leaving her in only her silk panties, petticoat, and shirt.

“Do you still need help, love?” Klaus asked, although he knew the answer. There was little way she would be able to undo all the buttons of her shirt without his help.

“Yes please,” she breathed.

Klaus nodded silently, and brought his hands up to sweep her hair away from the top of her shirt, his skin lightly grazing her smooth neck as he did so.

Caroline didn’t fight the shiver that ran through her body at the contact.

As Klaus’ fingers slowly, deliberately, began to pop each button from its hole, Caroline became increasingly aware of every part of his body in relation to her own.

She could feel his strong legs standing firm barely inches from hers, she could feel his soft breath fanning over the soft skin of her back as more and more of her became exposed to him, she could sense the hard panes of his chest were merely half a step behind her.

As he unfastened the last button, Klaus snaked his fingers up her back, and rested his hands on shoulders, underneath the thin material of the shirt still hanging there, as though testing the waters.

“You’re beautiful,” he breathed into her ear, his perfect lips grazing against the bell of her ear.

Caroline took the small step backwards, so their bodies were flush against each other, and she moved her head back so it resting on his chest.

Taking the move as encouragement, Klaus’ hands slithered back down her back, and around her front leaving them splayed out on the flat of her stomach, drawing small circles on the flawless skin there.

For all her intellect, Caroline had no idea of how to proceed. So she decided to do something she hadn’t done in a _long_ time, and just _feel_.

She raised her hands to slide the shirt of her arms, letting the flimsy material flutter to the floor. Then she raised her arms further, to encircle Klaus’ neck, burying her fingers in his hair at the nape. She ground her hips, ever so slightly, and she felt him sigh at the movement, spurring him to run his hands further up her body and take her breasts in his hands.

Both closed their eyes at the contact, revelling in the sensation of Klaus gently kneading her breasts.

Before too long, Caroline felt Klaus bring his plump lips to her shoulder, working his way slowly up to her neck, studiously searching for pressure points.

Klaus’ lips found hers soon enough, and he brushed them gently to begin with, adding more and more pressure as they grew more confident with what they were doing.

They’d both been kissed before. But nothing had prepared them for kissing each other.

Klaus spun Caroline around, and pulled her impossibly close as he pressed his mouth to hers once more. It was her tongue that slid across his lower lip, searching for entrance, an exploration he was only too pleased to allow.

As they kissed, Klaus flashed them to the wall, so he could press her against the cold tiles and kiss her more passionately. Caroline’s hands fought with the buttons of his unfamiliar shirt, but was much more successful in undressing him than she was undressing herself.

As she was finally able to push her naked torso to his, both let out loud sighs at the promise of bliss that was to come.

Caroline detached her mouth from his and ran it along his neck, offering him the same care and attention he’d shown her earlier, and he gripped her arse roughly through the petticoat whenever she landed somewhere particularly sensitive.

She stopped kissing him a moment later, and gazed deeply into his eyes, her chest rising and falling, her fingers gingerly fiddling with his waistband.

“Caroline,” he sighed, as her small hands brushed over the hardness in his pants.

“Join me for a bath?” she asked, tentatively.

The promise rang in both their ears, and Klaus nodded gently, as he placed a tender kiss on her lips.

“It would be my honour.” 


	2. Complex Physics in 1847

Klaus and Caroline spent the next few days the same way they spent their first day together. Laughing, talking, eating – completely wrapped in one and other.

Klaus couldn’t remember ever having days quite like them. In his long vampire life, he had never lived so slowly. Caroline managed to thaw a heart that was brutally frozen centuries ago.

He felt young. He felt loved. He felt _human_.

Caroline couldn’t remember the last time she just relaxed, and took the days as they came. She spent so much of her adult life in the lab, focussing her considerable brainpower on her work, and sometimes she forgot how lovely it actually was to just _live_.

The only time they acknowledged the existence of the outside world was when they discussed the masquerade ball.

Caroline had positively begged him to let them go, saying when else would she get the chance to go to a _real_ 1840s masquerade ball.

Klaus had felt a pang in his heart at being reminded her time with him was only temporary, but he agreed. If indulging her kept that perfect smile of hers on her lips, then he would go right on indulging her – because that smile was more precious to him than any of his worldly riches.

As Saturday dawned, Caroline stretched contentedly, and began running her lips along the man lying next to her.

Klaus opened his bleary eyes and smiled warmly at the sight of her.

“Well, aren’t we eager this morning?” he asked, his voice adorably gravelly after his slumber.

“Mhmm,” she hummed, continuing his ministrations. “The birthday girl wanted to give you wake up kisses, so she did.”

Klaus sat up then, looking curiously at her.

“Birthday girl?”

“Yep, it’s my birthday today,” she said, happily. “Twenty-eight.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Klaus asked, huffily, sitting up. “I would have brought you… breakfast in bed or something.”

“Birthdays aren’t a big deal in my house.”

“Nor mine love, but any chance to spoil you,” Klaus said, still pouting.

“I’m sure you can find a way of spoiling me,” she said, grinning wickedly.

xxx

It was later that day when Caroline began to get ready for the ball.

Klaus had called for a stylist to come to the house and set Caroline’s hair, though she was slightly anxious for this. She’d seen the hairstyles of the time and they _really_ weren’t her thing. But the stylist was cooperative in indulging her request for something simpler, and the end result was elegant and exactly what she wanted.

The maids helped her find her way around her make up Klaus had procured for her, and then it was time to don her dress.

When Klaus and Caroline had gone to purchase it earlier in the week, the dressmaker had taken all Caroline’s measurements and fussed over how perfect her figure was.

Klaus had gritted his teeth and scowled. _He_ knew Caroline’s figure was perfect he didn’t need other people pointing it out.

The three of them sat down for an hour and designed it. And when he said ‘the three of them’ he meant, Caroline and the dressmaker spent an hour designing it, while Klaus impatiently rolled his eyes and tried to distract Caroline so she would hurry up.

The tailor had made the dress, and the package arrive that morning, and Caroline was just bursting to open it.

When she put it on, she couldn’t help but feel like a queen.

She tied the strings of her mask so it was on straight, before stepping out of the room to find Klaus.

She placed her hand on the bannister of the staircase, and elegantly made her way down, when her eyes fell on Klaus, she couldn’t help a radiant smile spread across her face.

As Klaus watched Caroline come down the stairs, he knew he’d never be able to let her go. She was the single most encapsulating creature he’d met in 800 years, and all he wanted to do was keep her by his side, always and forever.

The dress she was wearing was a deep red, with dark blue trimming around the edges. The sleeves were long, and hugged her petite arms, and the neckline was off both shoulders. It hugged along her torso, before flaring out just below her waist. It was slightly different style to the rest of the formal wear of the time, but Klaus assumed she slipped in some influences from her time into the design.

Caroline had matched it with the same shade of red on her lips, blue earrings to match the trimming of her dress, and a silver chain around her neck.

“You are so beautiful,” Klaus said, feeling all the while like a hopeless, lovesick man. 

“Thanks, and you’re very handsome,” Caroline blushed, letting Klaus take her hand in his. “So, how are we getting there?”

Klaus just smirked, and pulled her out the front, where her mouth dropped open.

“Good evening, Mr Mikaelson,” the driver said.

“Evening, Harold. The manor please.”

The drive opened the door for the two, but Caroline was still stock still on the front steps, mouth agape, eyes wide.

“A horse-drawn carriage,” she stammered out. “We’re going in a _horse-drawn carriage_!”

“That we are, love.”

Caroline squealed excitedly – nearly upsetting the horses – and flung herself at Klaus, kissing him furiously.

Klaus chuckled at her enthusiasm, but kissed her back. It didn’t escape his notice that Harold’s eyebrows were raised, and the maids were whispering behind their hands at the very public display. Klaus, ever the lone wolf, was not one for such outward affection.

“Alright, love, we better get going, or Rebekah will have our heads.”

Caroline smiled elatedly, and allowed Klaus to help her into the car, bouncing excitedly the whole way to the venue.

Heads turned as the two of them stepped out. While he had explained to Caroline he was the supernatural king of the city, she hadn’t been confronted with it until now and it was slightly daunting.

People were looking at her as though she was, indeed, a queen and she wasn’t sure whether she liked it or not, knowing that many of them could probably kill her should they see fit.

But all of Caroline’s inhibitions disappeared as she stepped through the doors of the ballroom, and all but gasped at the beauty of the scene.

Klaus watched her eyes light up with the sheer joy of the spectacle, and Klaus knew he’d made the right decision bringing her here.

“Milady,” he said, smugly offering her his hand. “Would you like to dance?”

Her grin widened and she nodded vigorously.

As they took to the dance floor, Caroline ogled some more at the beautiful scene created around her, and laughed as Klaus whirled her around the dance floor.

They only stopped when a masked man tapped Klaus on the shoulder.

“Brother,” Klaus said, shortly.

“Niklaus, Miss Forbes, I’m glad you could make it,” Elijah said, attempting to kiss Caroline’s hand again.

“Can you stop trying to kiss me?” Caroline asked, exasperated.

Klaus had told Caroline the story of Elijah and his shared love for the same girl in their village, back when they were human. Caroline could hear the hurt of it in his voice, even all these years later, and she didn’t want Klaus to think she would do to him what Tatia did. 

“My apologies,” Elijah said, bemusedly, while Klaus smirked. “Niklaus, you are required to give a toast, in case it slipped your mind, so if you could follow me, I’m sure Miss Forbes will be able to keep herself occupied.”

Klaus rolled his eyes petulantly at his brother, before turning to Caroline.

“Will you be okay?” He asked.

“I’m a big girl, Nik, I’ll be fine.”

Klaus smiled at her again, and kissed her possessively one more time, before following his brother to the balcony. Klaus knew the community would be buzzing about him bringing a _human_ as a date, but he also knew no one who valued their life would even think about harming her.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Caroline heard Klaus begin. “I’m glad to see my family can still scrounge up quite the turn out, and it brings me joy to see our community continuously thriving.”

Klaus’ speech went on, but Caroline was getting distracted by two men behind her, who were talking to each other in frantic undertones.

“I’m telling you, Doctor, my calculations are spot on! Torchwood has been following these energy spikes, they’re hatching here, and they’re hatching like _now_!”

“Jack,” the taller of the two said. “Perhaps your calculations are correct, but they obviously _aren’t_ here! I think a bunch of 1840s nobles would notice seven, enormous outer space dragons hatching in the middle of their party.”

Though she was trying to concentrate on Klaus’ speech, Caroline couldn’t help but pick up the words ‘energy spikes’, and ‘outer space dragons’. They were two phrases one didn’t expect to hear when in the 1840s. Or ever really.

She knew she should leave it alone, Klaus would want her to watch him and not get distracted.

But then she heard it.

“And if we don’t find them, the mother will be ripping through the time vortex to get to her newborns. Bringing with her every horrible creature we don’t like, from the salt and pepper shakers of death, to the bunch of heartless tinmen looking for the wizard!”

_Time vortex._

There were two men talking complex physics in _1847_! How could she not get a little distracted?

Caroline began to sidle backwards, ever so slightly, so as to go unnoticed by anyone watching her.

As she got closer she was able to pick up more snippets of their conversation.

“Doctor, I don’t know what to say other than these are the coordinates, maybe there was some unaccounted for variable and we ended up further away than we should have.”

“Oh yes, because you _had_ to pick up the _only_ faulty vortex manipulator in Torchwood’s base, and get us stuck in 1847!”

Under her mask, Caroline’s eyes opened excitedly.

These men had a _vortex manipulator_! That had to mean they were from the future, an even further future than the one she was from.

Caroline gave up all hope of listening to Klaus’ speech, and turned to the two men, who, upon noticing her, pretended to act casual, though only ended to looking even more suspicious in the process.

“Excuse me,” she asked them, putting her best flirty voice one. “I don’t remember seeing you around before?”

“I’m the Doctor,” the tall, skinny man said, holding up a leather cardholder. “I’m from the catering critics service, and this is…”

“Captain Jack Harkness,” the shorter, stockier man interjected, flashing her a heart melting smile.

“Oh, stop it,” the Doctor said, exasperatedly.

“I’m just saying hello!”

“For you it’s the same… hey!” the man cried, as Caroline snatched the cardholder from his grasp.

“Do you expect me to believe you? This card is blank?” she asked incredulously. “I am so sick of men thinking I’m stupid because I’m blonde! I’m incredibly intelligent I’ll have you know!”

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor replied, a little taken aback.

Just then, there was a flurry of movement, signalling the finish of Klaus’ speech, and the rest of the room began unmasking themselves. 

“You know, I love a strong woman,” Jack said, taking off his own mask, the doctor following suit. “What might your name be, beautiful?”

Caroline couldn’t help but blush a little at his obviously flirting, and began to take her own mask off as she spoke.

“I’m Caroline, Caroline Forbes.”

As Caroline said her name, she too revealed her face, both men gaped at her, mouths hanging open comically.

“Caroline Forbes,” Jack repeated. “Caroline-Freaking-Forbes!”

“Ahh, yeah…” She said, confusedly.

Just then the Doctor picked up her hand and shook it vigorously, an adorable and contagious smile spreading across his face.

“Look at you, Miss Caroline Forbes. Doctor Caroline Forbes! Professor Caroline Forbes! I tell you, it is an _honour_ to meet you,” the Doctor said, enthusiastically.

“Umm, hi,” she said questioningly. “I don’t know why it’s such an honour but, okay…”

“Oh! Of course! Wait, not of course. This is 1847? Why are you in 1847? That’s not history! What’s happened to history?”

Caroline was staring blankly at the two men, both of whom seemed to know who she was, and were very excited about it.

“I don’t underst….”

Then suddenly, there was a large cracking sound coming from the direction of the Bayou and the night’s peace was broken as the loud screeches and wails ripped through the night.

Caroline felt the Doctor drop her hand, and saw him tear towards the window followed closely by Jack. As was a common occurrence with her, Caroline’s curiosity got the better of her, and she tore after them.

“Well done, Jack!” the Doctor cried, exasperatedly. “This is the _exact_ position is it?” 

“Sweetheart!” Caroline felt Klaus come up beside her, and grasp her hand desperately. “Are you okay?”

Klaus had _no_ idea what was happening.

He’d just been giving his speech when he’d noticed Caroline talking to two men he didn’t recognise. The jealousy had flared within him, and he cursed Elijah for making him do that blasted speech.

When he’d announced the party were able to unmask, he’d kept a close eye on Caroline, and his stomach had plummeted when both men seemed to get very excited about meeting her.

He’d been casually making his way over to her when the night had turned completely strange and something that sounded sort of like giant chickens were being hatched in the direction of the bayou.

When he’d managed to get to Caroline, the two men she’d been talking to were in a fully fledged argument about something he didn’t really understand.

“Well, _you_ were the one we insisted we didn’t have time to grab another manipulator!”

“Yes! Well, now we have a whole city full of people to save because _your_ calculations were wrong!”

“Well _you…_ ”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, _shut up!_ ” Caroline yelled at the two.

Jack and the Doctor both fell silent, both pouting like spoilt, petulant children who had been scolded by their mother.

“That’s better!” she said. “First things first. Nik, this is Jack and the Doctor. Doctor and Jack, this is Nik. Get ready to be mind-boggled, Nik, but these two both know me from the future, but I don’t know them, so I must get famous or something when I find a way to get back home.”

Caroline squeezed his hand, encouragingly before continuing.

“From what I can gather, Jack was trying to predict when and where those things would hatch, so they can send them back to their planet, but Jack’s time-machine-watch-thing broke and now they think they’re done for, so they’re bickering like school girls. Is that right?”

“Pretty much sums it up, yeah,” Jack said, the winning smile back on his face, as he gave Klaus an appreciative once over. “How are you, handsome?”

“Just, _stop_ it,” the Doctor groaned. “How are we going to get over there?”

“TARDIS?” Jack suggested half-heartedly.

“Can’t, for some reason it kept flinging me back, like the vortex is particularly vulnerable here.”

“We have a horse and carriage!” Caroline jumped in. “We can be at the impact zone in about ten minutes.”

“Better than nothing!” the Doctor said. “Allons-y!”

With that Caroline led Jack and the Doctor on fast feet towards the carriage, a bemused Klaus following along in their wake.

There weren’t many times in Klaus’ life that he could say he felt completely out of his league, but that day was _certainly_ one of them.

As the four of them clambered into the car, Caroline stuck her head out the window, “Into the fray, Harold!”

“As you wish, ma’am,” he said, before geeing the horses to gallop away.

“I like that,” the Doctor said, happily. “Into the fray, Harold. Very poetic, Caroline. You don’t mind if I call you Caroline do you?”

“Not at all,” she smiled back. “So what are hatching?”

“They’re the offspring of two species of space-dragon,” the Doctor said, his voice turning to lecture mode. “You see, I was supposed to be on site to watch their hatching, but my TARDIS won’t let me land in this year, in this location – some force repelling it, almost as if the time vortex is weaker here at the moment for some reason. Then I was going to load the newborns into the TARDIS, and take them back to their mummy.”

“TARDIS?” Caroline frowned.

“Time and relative dimension in space, it’s basically my…”

“Time machine,” Caroline finished. “I see. Keep going.”

“Well, under intergalactic law, their eggs weren’t supposed to be laid here in the first place, the earth being a vulnerable planet, but, I don’t want to punish the children for the sins of their parents.”

“You should have a talk with my parents,” Klaus added darkly.

Caroline squeezed his hand sympathetically, before turning to Jack, and asking, “And how do you two know me? I’d certainly remember a face like yours.”

Klaus bristled beside her, he may not understand physics or what an ‘outer space dragon’ was or anything about time travel, but he did know when his girl was flirting with another man.

“How old are you?” the Doctor asked.

“28 today,” Caroline replied, a little proudly.

“That explains it,” Jack said, his eyes widening. “In the year 2134 NASA reveals their first vortex manipulator, it’s not a sleek or streamlined as this one, but it’s a pretty freakin incredible breakthrough for science. And 30-year-old Caroline Forbes is the head scientist. In 2135, I was 11 years old. And I met Caroline Forbes at a school fieldtrip to the R&D department at NASA HQ, and I told her she was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen. She told me that I’d better not say that, in case her husband heard, because he might not be as forgiving this time.”

Both Caroline and Klaus frowned,

“What do you mean _this_ time?” Caroline asked, though was thoroughly intrigued by his story.

“What do you mean _husband_ ,” Klaus murmured.

It hadn’t escaped his notice that these two were talking about things that wouldn’t happened for over two and a half centuries, and Klaus didn’t like the thought of Caroline marrying someone else in the future.

“Hmm, that’s a story for a later time,” the Doctor said, giving Jack a warning look, as though he’d already revealed too much. “We’re almost there.”

As they jumped out, the four of them were stopped by police officers.

“You can’t pass,” one of them said. “There’s been an unknown explosion.”

The doctor was about to start with the made-up titles and fake reasons for being there when Klaus shouldered his way through.

“I’ll handle this,” he said, giving a scathing look to both the Doctor and Jack, all the while keeping a possessive hand in Caroline’s.

“You’ll let us pass, but you won’t let anyone else follow us.” Klaus looked directly in the man’s eyes as he spoke, his pupils dilating.

“You may pass,” the man said dreamily. “No one else may follow you.”

With that, Klaus shot another smug look over his shoulder and stalked away.

“Sorry, about him,” Caroline said awkwardly. “He’s a little jealous.”

“I can see that,” Jack said, grinning lopsidedly, before winking at her. “It’s a good colour on him.” 

“How did he do that?” the Doctor asked, staring after Klaus, even after Jack and Caroline started moving.

“He’s a vampire, from the original family of vampires,” Caroline said, casually. “Well, technically a hybrid, which is like a cross-between a vampire and a werewolf.”

“I was not expecting that…” Jack said.

“Don’t share my status with these laymen, Caroline, love,” Klaus said, snottily, as he flashed beside the three, and wrapped a possessive arm around her again. “Might scare them.”

“Yes very scared of a little baby vampire,” The Doctor said in a sing-song voice, puckering his lips.

“Baby vampire!” Klaus growled. “You will watch your tongue, or I’ll rip it from your mouth!”

“You couldn’t even if you tried!” the Doctor said, incredulously. 

The Doctor didn’t take kindly to _anyone_ calling him a ‘laymen’.

“Watch me!” Klaus roared, face morphing into hybrid more, advancing on the Doctor at superhuman speed, and bashing him against the tree.

“Nik!” Caroline shrieked. “Don’t you dare hurt him!”

But Klaus had stopped, his face turning back to normal after hearing a peculiar sound.

Klaus knew his way around the sound of heartbeats. He’d heard a billion beats of millions of different hearts over his life, and nothing had ever sounded quite like the heartbeat belonging to the man he had threateningly pinned against the tree.

“You have two hearts?” Klaus breathed, staring into the Doctor’s eyes, as though daring him to lie. “I can hear two heartbeats.”

Klaus tapped the rhythm on the side of the tree, and released the Doctor.

“You can hear it?”

“Part of being an 800-year-old vampire, mate.”

“Well, two hearts are part of being a _900_ -year-old Time Lord.”

“Time Lord?” Klaus questioned. “I haven’t heard those words…. Since Lizzy, back in 1568.”

“As in Queen Elizabeth the first?” When Klaus nodded, the Doctor looked down his nose and said, “she was my wife.”

“Well, she was _my_ mistress,” Klaus retorted. “I guess you couldn’t keep up with her desires.”

“Oh, I could _certainly_ keep up. You were probably not experienced enough, for her.”

“Well, at least I’m stronger than you.”

“Brains over brawn,” the Doctor snapped.

Klaus and the Doctor continued to battle over who had more experience with history, Klaus saying he’d lived _real_ history, and the Doctor saying well _he’d_ travelled all through space _as well_ as time.

“What’s happening right now?” Jack murmured jovially to Caroline, leaning in.

“Pissing contest, I think,” Caroline giggled.

“Well, I’m the _last_ of my kind!” the Doctor cried.

“Well, I’m the _only_ one of mine!”

“Okay, that’s it!” Caroline interjected, her amusement fading as she was reminded of the urgency of their situation by another loud _crack_. “There are a bunch of freshly hatched, outer space dragons in those woods who need our help to get home! So you two better work out how to get along, and go check to make sure all seven are ready to go when I get this vortex manipulator working.”

Klaus and the Doctor both pouted at Caroline.

“But, love, can’t I stay with you?” Klaus complained.

“And I think I’m the one who has the best shot of getting it working,” the Doctor added. 

“Nik, no. You can go help. This is _your_ city, and what is the king for if not helping his constituents. Plus, you’re immortal, that skill comes in handy. And Doctor, if this is based on my designs, then I think I’ll be able to get it working. Does anyone have a screw driver or something?”

The Doctor smugly pulled out a little blue wand thing, and Caroline frowned.

“I said screwdriver… not toy, Doc.”

“This is a sonic screwdriver, just point and think. Nik, Jack and me will go check on the babies, and meet back here when it’s done. You just get that machine working.

As the three men dashed off, Caroline had a silent fume for a moment, before regaining her composure, and getting to work. She had no idea how to work a _sonic screwdriver_ , but she assumed it was some kind of telepathic something.

In a test, she pointed the contraption at one of her shoes, and pressed the button, thinking with all her might ‘ _unclasp!’_. After a moment, Caroline felt her shoe buckle undo itself.

She smiled impishly at her success, before turning her attention to the vortex manipulator.

Caroline noted it wasn’t the battery that was the problem; there were still lights flashing, and the backlight still worked. It seemed to be the programming that was faulty, as the readout kept flashing ‘ _000errorcode4č2_ ’.

Caroline rolled her eyes fervently.

“Men!” she muttered, irritably.

There was nothing actually wrong with the machine, and had Jack or the Doctor had the sense to ever look at the handbook, none of them would be in this mess.

Despite the fact the technology was far more advanced than anything she’d ever seen, she still could see parts of its programming that were from her original design sketches. 

Caroline thought about what Jack had said. She would be the leading scientist in developing these machines one day… so it stood to reason they would use her error coding system.

It was a system twelve-year-old Caroline had thought up for her and her friends, so they could pass emergency notes in class the teachers would never be able to decipher. 

Caroline had assigned _000errorcode_ to mean nothing other than ‘something’s wrong’. Caroline could never fathom why her childhood friends, Bonnie and Elena, couldn’t understand the _000errorcode_ mean there was something wrong.

 _“I thought that meant the crisis was averted?”_ Elena had said, so many times. Though, while Elena had been blessed with stunning good looks, she was severely lacking in the brains department, so Caroline shouldn’t have been surprised Elena failed to grasp the concept.

The next digit corresponded to who the error code was aimed at informing. In school, Caroline had always been 1, Bonnie 2, and Elena 3. So, in this instance, Caroline could only assume that the second number referred to the model of the device.

And the rest of the digits, letters or symbols would relate to what the problem actually was.

Caroline had assigned a ‘ _b_ ’ if it had been boy trouble, or a ‘ _p_ ’ if it was feminine trouble. The dreamy Matt Donovan had been _µ_ and, when he’d arrived at their high school, Stefan Salvatore became _ß_.

So, when Elena finally dumped Matt for Stefan in junior year, the message read _‘000errorcode1bµ <ß_’.

Sitting in the bayou, thinking back on her high school days, Caroline appreciated that maybe Elena hadn’t been _that_ stupid, it was a complex system, when they could have just written _‘Caroline, I broke up with Matt today for Stefan.’_

But that didn’t matter.

Caroline had to work out what ‘ _000errorcode4č2_ ’ meant. And she had to do it fast, because the sounds of seven hungry baby outer space dragons were growing louder with every passing moment.

“č2,” Caroline said. “Umm…”

Caroline could only assume the č2 was code for the second problem with the coordinates.

“If it were me,” she murmured to herself, brow furrowing in concentration. “č1 would be if the coordinates were just flat out wrong… so č2 would be…”

Then it hit her.

The second most likely problem would be if some form of radiation was interfering with the device’s transmitter. And it would make sense. Of course there would be interference. A period that was meant to have _no_ time vortex exposure suddenly had three different hits. That would confuse any device.

Caroline smiled.

Now, all she had to do to get it functional was find something in the godforsaken place that would deflect radiation from the time vortex…

“Caroline,” the Doctor panted, and he and jack came jogging up beside her. “We made them angry… Klaus is distracting them with his speed while we got away… so basically… _RUN!_ ”

Before she could respond, Caroline was being pulled along by the Doctor.

“I need to find something that can deflect radiation from the time vortex,” Caroline managed to call out as she was running. “I’m pretty sure that’s what’s wrong with this thing, it’s gone haywire because I opened the vortex once already this week, then those eggs hatched, and your TARDIS tried to land here.”

The Doctor smacked himself in the head for not clicking to it sooner. Of course, he hadn’t known to factor in Caroline’s arrival through the vortex.

The Doctor halted his escape abruptly, spinning on his heel to look at Caroline.

“You are a genius, Miss Forbes,” he said, beaming once more. “What’s the one old thing that defends from time radiation? Water and sound waves.”

“And where are we?” Jack asked, catching on.

“In a bayou,” Caroline said excitedly, her eyes growing wide.

“With a sonic screwdriver!”

The three of them had a brief group hug, before running back in Klaus’ direction.

“We just have to get them in the water,” the Doctor called. “Then we can teleport them in the body of water to their home planet. It’s not going to be comfortable, but it’ll have to do.”

“How are we going to get them in the water, they’re dragons?”

“Get Klaus to lead them in, if you two are in the water, they’ll want to have a snack on you, and he can shepherd them in.”

For all the hectic parts of the evening, the execution of their final plan went off without a hitch. Jack stayed as bait in the water, Klaus herded the seven babies into the bayou, while the Doctor rigged the vortex manipulator to transport any living creature within a three-mile radius in the water to the dragons’ home planet.

Caroline stood dumbstruck thinking about how completely ridiculous that evening had been. But, she also knew this was her time to make her choice.

The Doctor would be able to take her home, and she would be able to go back and fulfil the destiny they showed her she had.

She felt Klaus come up beside her. His clothes were dirty and tattered thanks to his long, distracting jog around the bayou’s outer space occupants.

“Who would have thought those rocks we played on the other day were actually giant dragon eggs,” Caroline said disbelievingly to Klaus.

“Dragons from outer space, sweetheart, don’t forget that,” he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “It’s certainly been one wild day.”

As the Doctor finished up his last tweaks on the vortex manipulator, Jack turned to them.

“It’s not or never, Caroline, your last chance. You inspire millions of people to research what you do. You inspire me to become a time agent. I would not even be here if it wasn’t for you.”

Caroline didn’t know what to choose. How could she?

“Stay with me, Caroline. Please.”

The earnest hope in his voice nearly broke her heart. 

“You could live until 2132, and pick up your work once we get there.”

“Nik, there are dark times coming for the world. I know every major historical even for the next 285 years. I can’t live through them. It would ruin me.”

Caroline’s voice shook a little as she spoke.

“And you heard Jack. Millions of people to explore time travel because of my work. Adelaide Brooke inspired me to become a physicist. Her work on Mars some of the most incredible I ever came across. What if I inspire some incredible work? How can I mess with that sort of history?”

He picked up her hand and kissed the palm of it softly, with all the love in the world.

“Caroline,” he breathed. “I’ve lived a long time. Nearly three times as long as you will if you stay. And there’s no doubt I’ve lived a dark, treacherous life. But let me fill you in on a little secret.”

He picked up her other hand and held them tenderly in his, stroking his thumbs across the back of her hands.

“There’s a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities and art and music. Genuine beauty. And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask.”

Caroline’s heart clenched, and she gazed across at him, her mind filling with the possibilities of what she could discover over the next two centuries by his side, but then raced over all the things she could achieve back home.

She stared into his eyes and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted.

“Come on guys, clock is ticking!” Jack called to them desperately.

How did she make a choice like this? How did she choose between the history already made for her and making her own?

As she gazed into Klaus’ eyes, watching all the what-ifs and might-bes cross through his eyes, she felt her heartbreak a little. 

“For god’s sake!” Jack groaned. “Nik you maybe such a sexy man, and Caroline you’re definitely the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen, and I know you two are having a moment… But if you’re coming, we have to go! NOW!”

And then, it clicked, the only part of the whole story that didn’t make sense.

Jack had told her the vortex manipulator was first revealed in 2134, two years after she first cracked the equation, and it was only a year after that 11-year-old Jack met her and she told him about her husband.

There was _no way_ prior to meeting Klaus, Caroline would have found love in under three years. 

“Jack,” Caroline called to him, her voice shaking slightly. “Did I ever change my name? In the future?”

“Well, yeah. Your academic name stayed Caroline Forbes, but you took your husband’s last name of Mikaelson after you officially announced your marriage. What does it matter now?”

Klaus’ eyes widened, and Caroline beamed at him.

She quickly took the few steps towards Klaus – her future husband – and melted into his arms, their mouths crashing together.

“Oh, could those two stop necking,” the Doctor groaned, as Caroline and Klaus continued their passionate embrace. “These coordinates are set, we really have to go!”

Caroline only unglued herself from Klaus to shout

“Jack, it was a pleasure to meet you for the first time, and I look forward to the second.” Caroline saluted him, and turned to the Doctor. “And you… If you’re ever looking for a time travel buddy, look me up, I wouldn’t be against a couple of one off trips here and there. But this is goodbye for now.”

“It would be my honour, Caroline Forbes.”

And with that, the seven baby space dragons, and the two time travellers were sucked into the time vortex, right before Caroline and Klaus’ very eyes.

There was a sound similar to a localised thunderstorm, and then they blinked out of existence.

xxx

**_A galaxy far, far away…_ **

“Time travel without a capsule, now _that’s_ a killer,” the Doctor said, rubbing his head, willing the dizziness to evaporate.

“You know, that would have to be my favourite mission with you yet, Doctor,” Jack exclaimed. “Sexy vampires, space dragons, 1840s ladies, _and_ Caroline Forbes. Dream come true.”

“What I don’t understand is why she stayed,” the Doctor said, distractedly. “I mean, what does this mean for human time travel?”

“Well, what have we here?” Jack grinned, cheekily, ignoring the Doctor’s question, instead turning his computer screen around to show the Doctor the screen.

Staring back at the Doctor was a picture of none other than Caroline and Klaus Mikaelson, on the day NASA released their first statement on the vortex manipulator.

“That’s Klaus Mikaelson,” Jack said, awed by this revelation.

“No,” the Doctor said, a smile beginning to form on his face.

Everyone from earth at the time knew the story of Klaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes. Klaus was the dashing, suave history professor from Cambridge who swooped in and swept the leading NASA scientist off her feet during the prototype stage of the vortex manipulator.

Everyone attributed the Caroline’s sudden breakthrough in technology to his influence and the affect he had on her psyche. He loved and cared for her, and her science thrived because of it. 

“Those sneaky weasels,” the Doctor said. “But I thought his name was Nik. Nik the vampire, she said. Nik the _original_ vampire, she said.”

“Nik, the original _hybrid_ ,” Jack said, beginning to shake his head, before pointing sneakily at the name on the screen, “Niklaus.”

“Jack,” the Doctor said, disbelievingly, once again awed by the secrets time travel always seemed to reveal. “I do believe, Caroline Forbes – NASA scientist and human time travel pioneer – is actually a vampire.”

“That would explain why she looked so good for so many years.”

With that Jack and the Doctor made their way to the TRADIS laughing raucously at the wonders of time travel.

Madame De Pompadour? Stuck on a space ship.

Queen Victoria? Werewolf.

Charles Dickens? Christmas with ghosts.

And Caroline Forbes? Vampire.

xxx

**_New Orleans, Earth, 1847._ **

“Where the hell did you go, Nik!?” screeched Rebekah, as a very tattered looking Caroline and Klaus walked back through the front door of his home. “All that ruckus in the bayou happened, and you went gallivanting off with some… some… tart!”

Normally Caroline would object to being called a tart, and normally, Klaus would snap the neck of anyone who spoke ill of Caroline.

But that night, both were completely exhausted, but exhilarated from the events of the evening.

“Well!” Rebekah demanded. “ _Where have you been_?”

“Oh you know,” Klaus said casually, pressing a kiss on Caroline temple, flashing her a secret smile. “Just taking an uneventful stroll through the Bayou with my future wife.”

Caroline giggled, and waiting for Rebekah’s blow out reaction.

“You’re _what?_ ” Rebekah screeched, throwing her hands up in the air. “I give up! _I give up_!”

And she stormed out, leaving Klaus and Caroline laughing heartily.

“It feels strange; knowing the future,” Klaus said to Caroline, as they slipped into a warm bath together thirty minutes later. “I know you’re going to become my wife, and before I met you, that would have terrified me… but now, I like the idea.”

“Me too,” Caroline said, leaning in to give his lips a soft, tender kiss. “But think about me! I know every historical event for the next 285 years, Nik!”

“That knowledge will come in handy when planning holidays, love,” he smiled, recapturing her lips with his and kissing her deeply.

Their kisses became much more passionate, and they were now getting hot for reasons other than the steaming water in the bath.

Klaus pulled away from Caroline, and rested his forehead against hers.

“I love having baths with you,” he whispered.

“You’re going to love having _showers_ with me even more,” she whispered back.

“You promise?” he asked, flipping them over in the water so he could settle between her legs.

Caroline kissed him deeply and wildly for a few moments before saying, “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the melding of two of my enduring television loves! Much love to you all!

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this literally five years ago, and posted it to my Tumblr back then. But never posted it anywhere else. This is the cleaned up version - because I am a //much// better writer now than I was back then. Hope you enjoyed!


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